Evans World 2010 - Week 7

So, my nerves are finally returning to normal. Between the nailbiter Sunday night from the Vikings and Packers and last night's extremely close matchup between Mike and me, I'm about footballed out for a while. Sadly, I didn't get to see much of the games on Sunday and missed the first half of the Packers game (kids, don't be a nice guy, you miss football games), so I won't have much to talk about as far as the actual games are concerned. I guess I'll just have to focus on ...

HOW AWESOME I AM
Going into last night's game against Mike, I knew it would be close. Mike had Steve Smith and I had Eli Manning and less than a 2-point margin between us. All I needed was for Eli to score without throwing it to Smith. Simple. Not four minutes into the game Eli has thrown 2 INT and the point gap widens. Suddenly, I'm thinking "He's doing it to me again!" Then Eli goes and has one of the best games of his career, thankfully choosing to throw to Nicks (for once, I was supporting Tom) instead of Smith. In the end, I came out ahead just enough to fulfill my promise to beat Mike. Did I jump him in the rankings, nope. But it's good to be on the top side of .500 again.

IT JUST SUCKS TO BE JASON
Remember last week how I noted that Jason was #5 in the league based on points? Well, just to sock it to him a little more ... Jason is now #1 in the league in points but #10 in the rankings! Never seen anything like that before. At 2-5 Jason's chances of making the playoffs are slim, particularly since he plays #1 Berk next week. Somehow I've got the feeling Jason will end the regular season as the point winner but have to just watch the playoffs. Ouch.

I REALLY HATE TOM
Almost just as surprising as Jason's points is Tom's team which week after week defies convention and does well. Yes, Angi beat him this week (thank you, Angi). But even after leaving Garcon in the lineup (When it says "bye" next to his name, it is not Garcon speaking to you, Tom), he manages to score almost 100 points! Tom is still #4 in total points in the league. What a crazy season this has been/will be.

TIME TO BUY A COWBOY HAT, ROB
It was a rough weekend for Rob, make no mistake. Seeing Jay Cutler suck that much has got to hurt any time. Going into last night's matchup against Berk, the undefeated league leader at this point, Rob had to feel his chances for a win were pretty distant. Say, as distant as the Bears' chances of making the playoffs. When Romo went down in the second quarter, I've got a feeling Rob turned the TV off. Thankfully, Dez Bryant was there to save the day for Rob, scoring 3 TD's in the rest of the game and providing the only spark of life for the Cowboys all season. I'm not ready to call him Offensive Rookie of the Year just yet, but on a team that bad he is a diamond in the rough to be sure. Rob lives in Houston, Texas, and I can't even begin to imagine what rooting for football is like down there. My stereotypes are probably accurate in that everyone is insanely loyal to their team of choice, be it Austin, Dallas, Houston or the local high school. I think Rob will find himself rooting for Bryant and the Cowboys a little more often now. Great win, Rob! We all thank you for knocking Berk off his tower of power.

ROUGH YEAR FOR NATHAN
I'm thinking Nathan is seeing the writing on the wall. Compared to most other teams in the league, his team is lacking in some key areas. On paper, it's a FF dream team. In practice, it's a let down. I'm not sure I can recall in recent history when Nathan had a 3-game losing streak. Well, next week will make it 4 when he loses to me. As I've said many times before, this is the weirdest FF season I've ever played, where consistency in a player's performance is as unlikely as Tom becoming League Champion. Nathan's feeling that prick of truth harder than others (that's what she said).

WEEKLY AWARDS
MVP - I can't believe I'm doing this, but MVP this week has got to go to Eli Manning for pulling out a close win for me against Mike. I've said it before, Eli is probably one of the most annoying FF QB out there. You never know how good or poorly he'll do any week, and he doesn't exactly shine as a FF QB. Thankfully, this week he got the job done for me. At least next week I don't need to worry about starting him against Nathan.
Honorable Mention - Huge week for the Atlanta Falcons and Angi. Between Michael Turner and Roddy White, Angi had the matchup locked up before the sun went down Sunday night. Atlanta has definitely been a winning ride for FF owners this season so far, particularly with White. Looking at the NFC it's hard to put Atlanta over the Giants or Packers to win, but as long as they keep putting up huge FF numbers, we'll be happy.
Best Owner Move/Choice - I couldn't do what Nathan has been doing almost every week this season: dropping a defense and picking up the best one available. That kind of play would drive me crazy. For Nathan, I can see how it's just another one of those things you do to win. What amazes me most is how almost every time he has done that this season, his pickup (off waivers, mind you) turns out to have a huge week. This week it was the Redskins. Are the rest of us missing a key FF strategy here? If you're like me and find the DEF a valuable FF position to have, probably not. But, if you don't care about the DEF as much (Chris? Kevin?) maybe Nathan has the answer. Great choices, Nathan!
Unfortunate Bench - A pretty painful week for this award. Tony's already said it in his matchup. Kenny Britt was by far the FF point leader this week, not that he needed the help. Berk is regretting leaving Darren McFadden on the bench, but who knew Oakland would blow up so much against the Broncos? McFadden is definitely a hard one to start/sit each week. But, the award goes to Rob for leaving Lee Evans on the bench. Now, I don't blame him. I think Evans is one of the most overrated FF WR in the past 5 years. It always bugs me when his name shows up in draft-prep magazines so high when I KNOW he's not going to do that well. And I've been right. So, Rob, I don't blame you for benching Evans. Again, be grateful that Bryant came up as huge as he did.
Lawrence Phillips Award - Speaking of Kenny Britt, what kind of complete and total idiot goes out to a bar during the season and starts a fight? Well, Britt does. He sat out the first quarter of the game as punishment and came back into have one of the biggest FF WR performances of the season so far. It's frustrating to see idiots come out and do so well (i.e. Phillips). Even still, this is the 6-month period when you're paid to be an athlete. I don't understand NFL players going to bars at all during the season, much less getting into fights there. Dumb.
Average Score - 91.6. I think what is more important is how after 7 weeks there is less than a 100 point difference between the #1 and #12 teams. Hard to say that every team doesn't still have a chance at this point.

RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT WEEK 7
- I think I'm as baffled as any other sports writer from the scores I saw this week. The Saints lost to the Browns? Buffalo almost beats the Ravens in a high-scoring game? Oakland destroys Denver? Tennessee smashes Philly? The Chiefs win huge? I'm glad I don't bet on NFL games anymore. This weekend would have driven me crazy.
- Good week to be a Chiefs fan! A huge win that could easily define the rest of their season. Huge plays from Cassel, Bowe and Charles, plus Thomas Jones decided to show up and decide to play football again. I really like the Chiefs' chances to win their division this year.
- You probably didn't notice, but I was 6 for 6 in my voting for our matchups. I know you can't tell which team I voted for until Sunday morning. But, if you're a little nervous about your matchup give me a call and ask if I voted for you or not. If I did, you can relax just a little bit more. Yeah, I'm awesome.
- Something tells me Nathan will release Kolb for the second time this week. Granted, he needs a QB for his matchup with me, but I don't think he'll lose much sleep over it. The question is, will he pick him up again in Week 9 or will Rob swoop in and get him to replace Romo?
- I think it's nice that the NFL apologized for taking the TD away from Shiancoe and the Vikings. It's nice when a national organization has manners like that. Even still, it's as empty an apology as there ever could be. Do they add the TD back to the score and give the Vikes the win? Nope. So, what the hell good is the apology? I learned fencing in college that part of the sport was to fence against the referee, and sometimes they'll make a call that is not in your favor. That's true of just about every sport out there, including professional football. NFL, issue your apologies if you must. I say what happens on the field is final, and teams just have to live with it. Yes, call the refs out when they make mistakes in order to keep them honest and calling games well. But don't start crying at press conferences. It's part of the game. Deal with it.
- I think I agree with James Harrison and a few other players ... potential suspensions are ultimately not going to prevent players from making huge hits on each other. This was a quiet weekend in terms of hitting. I expect to see another weekend like Week 6 again.

Well, a short article but one I'm sure you loved and will read again and again. Or better yet, comment and get some dialogue going! Are you a follower of my blog yet? Why not? I don't sell your e-mail information, after all. ;)

Good luck to all in Week 8, except for Nathan and the QB, DEF wonders that he'll pick up from waivers in the coming days.